


Gingerbread on Rainbow Road

by tinysoftdrinkstate



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Baking, Getting Together, M/M, it's cute tho, lmao i don't even know when this is set sorry guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23353675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinysoftdrinkstate/pseuds/tinysoftdrinkstate
Summary: "It became a quasi-routine for the two of them, when Bitty was away: Dex baking, Nursey talking, video games after dessert. Somehow, Nursey never got tired out by the repetition. It seemed he and Dex were endless, full of both conversation and comfortable silence, seamlessly falling into whichever was needed."Dex bakes, Nursey talks, and (spoiler alert) they're both in love.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 137





	Gingerbread on Rainbow Road

Dex was cooking. Baking, really. This wasn't an unusual occurrence, if you were looking at his entire life, but at Samwell, the Haus mostly just counted on Bitty. But this weekend, Bitty was up visiting Jack, and Dex had really been craving his mom’s custard pie. So, Dex was baking. 

He had the crust blind-baking in the oven, and was working on the filling. The recipe didn't call for raisins, but his mom always threw in a handful, and it added texture, besides. The recipe also didn't call for as much nutmeg as he's putting in, but again, who was he to question his mother’s wisdom?

Stirring just a little harder than was necessary, Dex ended up splattering some of the filling up out of the side of the bowl and onto his hands and forearms. “Ah, shit,” he muttered to himself as he set down the bowl and moved towards the sink. He was halfway to a dish towel when he heard the front door slam open and a certain, unmistakable voice shout, “He-ey!” 

~

Nursey was having an excellent day. He had actually gotten enough sleep for once, all his classes had gone well, and now he was walking into a Haus smelling deliciously of baking pie crust. Except… wasn't Bitty away for the weekend? And no one else really cooked, ever. So what was making that amazing smell?

Nursey strolled into the kitchen, still confused as to who could be cooking but nonetheless ready and willing to consume delicious baked goods. “He-ey!” He shouted, dropping his backpack on a chair. He stopped short, however, when he saw who was standing on the other side of the table. “Dex?”

The redhead looked up. “Uh, yeah?” 

Now, Nursey did not mean to be a cliche. He’s read all the various “Odes to Autumn,” and he knows how trite it would be to mention this, but… It was a beautiful day out, crisp and clear with plenty of bright sunlight. The Haus kitchen had lovely big windows, and Dex just happened to be standing in just the right spot where his eyes - his gorgeous, amber eyes - caught the sun in such a way that they sparkled. Like coins at the bottom of a city-square fountain, Dex was happy and his eyes were sparkling. 

Fuck, Nursey was so gone on him.

“Nursey?”

Whoops. He looked up. “Yeah?”

Dex chuckled, vaguely confused. “Um, you were the one who said my name in the first place.”

“Shit, guess I did, bro. Forgot what I was gonna say anyway.” Nursey tried to repair his blunder.

“Alright then. Let me know if you think of it.” Nursey watched Dex return to his task, carefully wiping the custard off his hands and continuing to whisk.

“Hey, let me know when that pie is done?”

Dex didn’t miss a beat. “Of course.”

~

Dex haphazardly set his plate down on the coffee table and winced a little when it clattered. Settling back into his seat on the sofa, he looked at Nursey next to him. “Mario Kart?” he offered. 

“Oh, dude, you gotta give me a minute to recover from that bomb-ass pie!” Nursey exclaimed, his own plate much more precariously perched on the arm of the couch. 

“It really was not that good,” Dex answered. “Just something my mom used to make.” 

“Well then you’re mom’s a fucking genius, because that pie was capital-G great,” Nursey bubbled.

“Okay,” Dex smiled, “I’ll tell her you said so.” Honestly, how was Nursey so kind all the time? He always seemed to have a compliment at the ready, and yeah, okay, maybe it was a cliché, but his face just lit up every time he smiled. Just being in his presence felt like a gift. 

So maybe Dex had a teeeeny crush. Maybe that crush was actually kinda big. Maybe Dex had been pining after Nursey for such a long time he could barely remember when they didn’t get along and keeps accidentally spiraling into the wedding section of Pinterest. It was fine. He was coping. 

“So, Dex? Up for a round of Kart?” 

Dex started out of his train of thought to find Nursey looking at him with mild concern. “Oh, for sure. I call the wheel!” 

Nursey laughed a little. “Dude, why do you like that thing so much?” 

The Haus had a few controllers but only one steering wheel-shaped case, because most of the boys prefered to just use the remote. Dex had strong oppositions. “It makes it feel more like a real car! It helps me win.” 

“It’s Mario Kart! The opposite of a real car!” Nursey pointed out, the same way he always did. 

Dex found comfort in the familiarity of the bicker. “Well, watch me win anyway, fucker.” He shot the challenge across the couch at Nursey with a grin, knowing he’d accept. 

~

It became a quasi-routine for the two of them, when Bitty was away: Dex baking, Nursey talking, video games after dessert. Somehow, Nursey never got tired out by the repetition. It seemed he and Dex were endless, full of both conversation and comfortable silence, seamlessly falling into whichever was needed. 

But there was always a line Nursey was careful never to cross. No matter how good Dex’s baking was (he still thinks about that gingerbread from last month, honestly) or how nice it was to be together after a hard day, Nursey kept the I love yous inside where they belonged. 

We’re tense friends, he thought to himself. I don’t want to upset this balance we’ve found. I don’t want to freak him out. I don’t want him to get distant. So he very carefully pushed the words he wanted to say far away from his mouth, and instead went with “You’re the best, bro.” “Thanks, dude!” “This is incredible.” Sometimes, when he was brave, it was “I like spending time with you.” 

But one of these days was not like the others. To be fair, it had been a shit morning for him, when after spilling his coffee and doing poorly on a test he just had to sleep through a meeting with his advisor and then trip and fall on his way back to the Haus. So he’d really been in need of some Dex-level comfort, and it’s not really his fault if his mouth slipped when he walked into the kitchen and Dex already had tea waiting for him, along with that trademark gentle smile that only came out when he was truly at home. 

“Oh my god, I love you.” 

Shit. 

~

“Um.” Dex was still processing. Nursey said I love you. He probably just meant it as friends, right? Nursey said I love you. So it was just polite to say it back, right? Nursey said I love you. And besides, he did love Nursey as a friend. Nursey said I love you. And… Something else, he had to admit to himself. 

“I, uh, love you too, man.” Dex managed to get out, hopefully with some semblance of calm. But once he said it, and he meant it (as friends), he couldn’t stop thinking about it. About Nursey. About his hair and his smile and the way he talked and the way he listened and the way he lived, embracing it all and bringing Dex along with him. 

Dex couldn’t let this sit there, or pretend that he could let everything stay the same forever. He opened his mouth again, in hopes of forcing the words out of his mouth so he couldn’t chicken out. 

“Like, a lot,” he added, looking up to meet Nursey’s gaze, maybe hopefully and maybe pained – he wasn’t really sure. He crossed his fingers that it was like, a cute kind of hopeful, and that he didn’t look like he just ran over a bunny while already crying. 

“Okay,” Nursey said softly, stepping closer. If Dex wasn’t blind, Nursey was also a little hopeful. 

“Um, not as friends.” Dex paused, and realized this might not have been enough. “Like, solidly romantically. I love you. I think I’m in love with you.” Aaaaaaand that might have been a bit too far. 

But maybe not for Nursey, who stepped still closer, bringing the two of them face to face at the side of the workspace, with what Dex recognized as his small scared smile. Apprehensive, Nursey might have said. But ready, Dex decided. 

“So, can I kiss you?” He asked, for once confident in the way he read the face in front of him.

“Yeah,” Nursey said, the fear disappearing out of his smile as he leaned in. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! It's been a minute, huh? Leave a comment if you feel like it, and hop by my tumblr @tinysoftdrinkstate!


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